China Doll
by aemelia113
Summary: Marinette is having a lonely string of days and is feeling a little fragile. Hawk Moth takes advantage of her emotional turmoil to make a supervillain. Chat Noir's gotta rescue his Princess. Marichat. Oneshot. T for character injury/ possible body horror. Cover art by min-xie on Deviantart. Check them out!


**A/N: I don't own ML or its affiliated characters. I got the idea for my China Doll from the fic of the same name by Megatraven. Check them out! Warning for character injury, the reason for the cautionary rating. Enjoy, Miraculers!**

 **Marinette felt like any second she was going to break.**

 **It was not that this week had been particularly** ** _bad_** **or anything. She just felt fragile, vulnerable, and... lonely. It was the loneliness that ached the most.**

 **Her parents were out of town for a convention of bakers for nearly two weeks and had been delayed coming home because of bad weather in the Alps. Meanwhile, she was alone in her empty house. She would have had Alya for company, but her best friend was busy as well. She was still in town, but staying in a hotel for a young journalists' workshop. Even Nino was occupied, having finally found some people interested in hiring him for his DJ services. He was booked solid with gigs all weekend. As for Adrien... well, he and Marinette didn't spend much time alone together, and he had a full week of photoshoots and fittings anyway.**

 **So, when Chloe humiliated Marinette in front of the entire school and no one stood up for her, Marinette couldn't muster up the energy to be surprised. She had been feeling alone all week and this latest incident was only further evidence that this was going to be the norm for awhile. Of** ** _course_** **she'd have no one when she was close to shattering.**

 **Friday had just been a heavy traffic day for bad news. Her parents' detainment by the weather, Chloe's latest bullying endeavor, and Tikki's lecture about the importance of maintaining the secret identity.**

 **Marinette had been getting closer to Chat in her civilian form, and now that she was pretty sure he liked both Ladybug and Marinette okay, she thought of telling him who she was. Tikki had shot down the idea, citing examples of Ladybugs who had told their Chat Noirs and others and who had suffered for it. Either trust was broken and the relationship between the partners cracked, or they got too close and ruined their collective ability to focus on the mission instead of each other. Tikki said that she was better off carrying it alone. No one could know, not even her partner.**

 **Speaking of her partner, he'd been making an effort to come see her while her parents were gone, which alleviated the loneliness somewhat. They played cards, talked, just enjoyed each other's company. Marinette had gotten used to having him around. She had gotten so used to it that she had been sitting on her roof for hours waiting for him to show up. It was dark now, and getting cold. She hunched into the blanket around her shoulders and wrapped her hands tighter against the curved sides of her little cream and gold teacup with pink rose pattern. Her thumb stroked a cluster of beautifully painted flowers.**

 **Marinette sighed into the night air and her breath fogged a little. She had to face facts now. Her kitty wasn't coming. He wasn't even her kitty, really. He had his own life to live outside of the mask, a life that didn't involve her. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did. It** ** _hurt_** **. She tensed her chest and shoulder muscles to try and prevent the first sob from escaping. If she could just hold that one in, her pieces would stay together. She wouldn't break.**

 **"** **You're stronger than this," she muttered to herself.**

 **It felt like a lie.**

 **She saw the shadow of black and purple wings approaching, but she felt frozen. How could she be akumatized? The closest thing to an attempt to dodge that she made was a halfhearted twitch of her legs. The butterfly settled into her teacup and she felt her face heat, both from the flush around her eyes and the warmth of the light from the purple butterfly outline around her head.**

 **"** **No," she whispered.**

 **A smooth, deep voice wormed into the corners of her mind, dulling some things and sharpening others. It felt soothing, like warm honey or the sound of rain on a window. It made the good things dim and the bad things become blinding, but at the same time made her calm and pliant. She felt her muscles relax and unwind one by one. Her eyelids drooped and her teacup rested lightly in her palms instead of being clutched like a lifeline. Her head lifted and she let the voice in, beginning to listen.**

 ** _Poor child. All alone. You feel abandoned, vulnerable, fragile. Ready to break. I can help you turn this weakness to your advantage. You will never be alone again. You'll have no end of playmates. The only thing I need from you is Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. Then you will be free to do as you please. Do we have a deal, China Doll?_**

 **In thrall, she said the only thing she could. "Yes, Hawk Moth."**

 **The darkness bubbled over her skin in a soft foam. She closed her eyes and let it sweep across her body and recede, revealing her true self. She stood and flexed her new limbs and delighted in the soft clink that they made when they moved.**

 **"** **Oh, this is going to be such** ** _fun_** **!" China Doll giggled in a high-pitched voice.**

 **Adrien was on a rare self-guided outing to the Trocadero, strolling around and enjoying the freedom. After a long day of photoshoots, he'd gone home intending to take a quick catnap but wound up passing out until after dark. He cursed his drowsiness for making him miss an afternoon with Marinette as Chat Noir. She had looked a little more morose today and she could have used a friend.**

 **He thought of going to visit her now, but she could very likely be asleep at this hour. Instead, he decided to savor this seldom-occurring opportunity for free time- by walking in the general direction of the bakery, just in case he decided to check on her, of course. Just in case.**

 **Suddenly, he heard terrified screaming suddenly cut off. That was** ** _never_** **a good sign. He ducked into an alley and called for claws out, transforming in a flash into Chat Noir. He ducked out of the alley and raced towards the hullaballoo.**

 **He was not exactly surprised that this was an akuma attack. The tiny stature of the akuma was new, though. She was even shorter than Ladybug, by a little. The only akumatized child they'd ever faced was Puppeteer. When she turned to face him, he decided that though she was definitely child-** ** _like_** **, especially height-wise, she was definitely** ** _not_** **a child. There was something in her empty, hostile gaze and the way she moved that screamed "Predator!" in the way nothing a child would do could.**

 **Her pale white skin had delicate gray veins mapped across it in all directions, and appeared smooth as marble. Her makeup was painted like a doll's: perfect pink circles for blush and little green half moons for eyeshadow and a red, cupid's bow mouth that smiled vacantly. Her eyelashes were painted on because her eyes were actually glassy blue orbs that were almost entirely pupil. As long as he'd been staring at her, she hadn't blinked. He shuddered at the creepiness.**

 **She wore a frilly pink dress with lace and bows and ribbons, complete with pink and white striped stockings with matching fingerless gloves and a little white apron and puffed sleeves and a fluffy skirt. She had little black Mary Janes and pink ribbons in her long, curly black pigtails that looked somehow fake, like thin strands of silky yarn. A top hat was perched on her head, tilted at a jaunty angle. It was white with pink and gold bows for decoration and a little floral pattern teacup nestled among them on the brim.**

 **She cocked her head at him curiously, smile widening barely noticeably. She waved hello with the tall staff she was holding: striped pink and gold with a pink and white spotted rose acting as the head of the staff, a windup key resembling leaves beneath the large bloom. She stepped away from her victims, who stood up as a diverse mixture of different kinds of toys. There were stuffed animals, dolls, and action figures as well as toy cars and planes and jack in the boxes and lots of windup automata like hopping kangaroos and monkeys with cymbals. The horde regarded him as well and he gulped, keeping one eye out for Ladybug.**

 **"** **You came! I'm so happy. I was worried that I'd have to play all by myself," the akuma lilted in a high, young voice.**

 **"** **You... wanted me here?" Chat asked.**

 **"** **Of course! Who else was I going to play with? The creepy crawly hasn't showed up yet, and you're better anyway. I like kitty-witties better than dumb bugs."**

 **"** **You want to play?" he repeated incredulously.**

 **"** **Yup! Winner of the game gets the miraculous," she explained.**

 **"** **What's the game?"**

 **"** **A fight to the death!" she giggled.**

 **"** **That doesn't sound like much of a game, Miss...?"**

 **"** **Oh! Where are my manners? I'm China Doll. No Ms. required. And it's the game you play all the time with people like me. You do it so often you must like it at least a little. You win the battle, and the person with the powers goes away and the 'cured' person comes back. The akuma version is gone forever, unable to come back after his or her akuma is purified. If I win, then you don't get to be Chat Noir anymore, and the Chat Noir that was you will never come back. That sounds an awful lot like a fight to the death to me," she trilled.**

 **"** **Oh. okay, then. As long as you don't mean literal death," he sighed in relief.**

 **"** **Well, that's not entirely off the table, either. It would be easier to take your ring if you weren't bouncing around," she commented, making his blood run cold.**

 **"** **Um, Hawk Moth wouldn't want that, right? He's never had an akuma use lethal force before," Chat pointed out nervously.**

 **"** **Silly cat! Of course he has," China Doll twittered. "You and the pest have always been around to prevent it, is all. Hawk Moth prefers to keep the carnage to a minimum, but he doesn't particularly care if a few 'innocent bystanders' get snuffed out on the path to victory. Every war has its casualties, and his war with you two is a bitter one. He's beyond tired of losing to mere children. He might even thank me if I ended things today."**

 **"** **I- I don't believe you," he stammered. "Hawk Moth is a villain, but he's not homicidally evil."**

 **"** **You want proof? Fine. The first akuma, Stoneheart. How many people nearly got crushed by bits of building or thrown cars? Then there was Stormy Weather. In case you didn't know, lightning does a bit more than tickle if you get hit by it. Ooh! Or how about Pharao? He tried to sacrifice that nosy reporter. Sacrifice means you** ** _kill_** **the offering," she informed gleefully. "Timebreaker's way wasn't exactly violent, but being erased from existence is definitely death," she snorted.**

 **"** **Antibug's anti-charm was a giant sword. If she had used that successfully, then your little bugaboo would be dead in multiple pieces. If Copycat had used Cataclysm on** ** _you_** **instead of the chains, you'd be pretty dead, too. You can't tell me that you didn't think Animan was potentially lethal, given the dinosaur incident. Your** ** _face_** **when you thought she was a goner was just heartbreaking. Or am I thinking of funny?" she pretended to be puzzled. "Pixelator could have deleted the people he photographed permanently and destroyed them. I could go on. You** ** _must_** **have nine lives to have had as many brushes with death as you have without going all four paws up."**

 **Chat's heart was in his throat. It wasn't only that he was only just thinking about all the times he'd nearly died, that other people had barely escaped death. China Doll had said something alarming.**

 **"** **You called her bugaboo. I'm the only one who does that. How... how did you know that?" he choked.**

 **It couldn't be his Lady.** ** _Oh, God_** **. It just couldn't. But how else would she know?**

 **China Doll rolled her eyes and snorted, "** ** _That's_** **your takeaway from my speech? Whatever, it's not my responsibility to make you aware of the constant threat of death. I'm not your precious lady, if that's what has you worried."**

 **"** **Then who are you?" he asked.**

 **"** **Ooh! We could make it into a game, to see if you can guess!" she squealed, bouncing. "That would be fun, wouldn't it?"**

 **"** **Um..." he trailed off, trying to think. Who did he know that hadn't been akumatized? Was it even someone he knew or just someone who had been around for most of the akuma attacks and had seen him in action? A fan of the Ladyblog, perhaps. He said a random name that popped into his head. "Bridgette?" he tried.**

 **She chortled at him. "Nope! You'll have to guess again, but we can play both games at the same time, to make it extra fun."**

 **With that, she leapt at him, swinging her staff to meet his. She swept his feet out from under him with a leg. He wriggled away and swiped his claws at her. She didn't even bother to move, just stood there smiling. His claws hit her skin and promptly skidded right off her arm. There were four barely noticeable, faint lines across the surface of her arm. She brushed fingers against them and they made a noise like mug scraping across a plate. What? Just. What.**

 **"** **You're a bit slow on the uptake, aren't you? My name is** ** _China_** **Doll. What did you expect me to be made out of? Flesh?" she laughed. "Not anymore."**

 **Chat swallowed nervously. Only Horrificator and Stoneheart had changed so completely, and the former still resembled something organic. Even Rogercop had only been in a suit of armor rather than becoming an actual robot. Was this girl going to be okay? Now that he was closer, he could see the little ball joints in her arms and legs, the thin gap around her neck where it met her head, and the little articulated fingers, all made of porcelain. Now that it was quiet, he could hear the soft clinking that happened every time she moved.**

 **She really was made of china. That was bad. She was probably fragile, right? He'd have to be careful, but still keep up the usual banter so she didn't notice he was going easy on her.**

 **"** **Well, now I know. And I know that porcelain is breakable!" he cried with false bravado.**

 **Where was his Lady? He needed backup on this.**

 **He charged, throwing a fist into her surprised face, holding back at half strength, expecting her to either dodge or be unaffected again. Instead, there was a sharp crunch and he felt the surface under his knuckles give way. She screamed and covered her cheek with her hands.**

 **When she straightened and took her hands away, he sucked in a horrified gasp. Where his fist had made contact, the porcelain that made up her cheek had shattered and cracked inward. There was a gaping hole in that part of her face, with fissures spiderwebbing out from the main damage. Her eye, apparently glass, had fallen out on the pavement and had a chip in it. His throat convulsed as he held back a violent gag. Her** ** _eye._**

 **That wasn't even the worst, though. The inside of her head, that he could see through the hole, was** ** _hollow._** **There was only darkness back there. Her head, just like a real porcelain doll, was hollow, and her limbs were solid, more durable, but still breakable. Her torso was probably also hollow, then. He'd have to be cautious about hitting her there. She glared at him hatefully, and bent to retrieve the eye and pop it back in. It lolled to the right a bit, but looked otherwise okay despite the chip. He made to step towards her, to offer help, but he felt pain in his shins. He glanced down and saw her toy army was attacking his legs. Some metal cars had started repeatedly ramming into his tibia.**

 **He scrambled back, hissing. Meanwhile, China Doll was gathering up pieces of her face from the ground and inside her broken cheek and fitting them back into place, where they fused back together. There were still a few pieces missing, but they were small and the remaining damage was minimal. He hoped she'd be healed just by being de-evilized since Ladybug seemed to be taking her sweet time. What if she'd been turned into a toy? That would be just** ** _perfect_** **.**

 **"** **That** ** _hurt._** **How could you do this to me, Kitty? Why did you let this happen?" she whined reproachfully.**

 **Wait. Only one person called him Kitty. His heart sank as he realized who he was fighting and he felt twice as bad for hurting her. What had happened to make her into this?**

 **"** **Oh, Marinette. I'm so, so sorry," Chat sighed, drawing a hand down his face.**

 **"** **Tha's not my name anymore!" she screeched, stamping her foot. "I'm China Doll, and I will** ** _break_** **you the way you broke me!"**

 **She came at him. He tried to dodge, but the toys were tripping him up. Dozens of dolls held his arms down and rubber snakes coiled around his ankles. Marinette sat on his chest and rammed her fist into his face repeatedly.**

 **"** **Where were you? I needed someone and I was all alone. I'll always be alone! W** ** _hy weren't you there for me?_** **"** **she yelled as she hit him.**

 **It didn't really hurt that badly. She couldn't hit him hard enough to do any damage without breaking her hand. He yanked his arm free and held her wrist away from his face. She tugged her arm away, trying to escape his grip, but he held on tight. She wrenched her arm free... but only half of it.**

 **It popped off right at the elbow joint and Chat was left holding her lower arm. He squealed like a little girl and tried to throw it away from him. It skittered over his shoulder and the hand seized his neck, fingers wrapping around his throat in an attempt to choke him. When he managed to slip the stranglehold, the arm crawled back to its owner and she popped it back into its socket.**

 **"** **You play rough, Kitty," she huffed. "It's been fun, but maybe we should finish this game."**

 **They fought for a little longer while he tried to pinpoint her akuma object. Staff? No, he'd never seen Marinette with a windup key or a rose. The teacup on her hat was a possibility. He'd seen her sipping from a similar one on colder nights on her rooftop, he was pretty sure.**

 **He got in close and ripped it off. Her screech of anger was a good indicator that he had found the thing even before he smashed it to free the black butterfly. He snatched it and slipped it into his pocket. The magic material their suits were made of would hold it until Ladybug could fix it. He turned to Marinette, who was swallowed by darkness. Once it cleared, she stood swaying on her feet. When her blue eyes rolled back in her head and she started to go down, Chat dove to catch her. His arms slid under her back and his knees smacked painfully into the ground as he bore the brunt of the impact.**

 **"** **Princess?" He nudged her gently.**

 **She didn't respond, lolling listlessly in his arms. The damage to her face was mostly fixed, but there was a shallow cut on her cheek in the shape of the crack pattern that trickled blood. Chat was worried. He laid a hand gingerly on the unhurt half of her face and rubbed a little circle into the skin with his thumb.**

 **She had been so** ** _lonely_** **, and he should have been there for her. Sweet, caring Marinette would be devastated that she had terrorized the city and punched him in the face repeatedly. He felt the soreness of the bruises throb underneath the skin of his cheeks, nose, and eyelids. She hadn't hit very hard, but she'd hit him a lot. One eye kept twitching and it was hard to see out of it. But he could see that she still wasn't moving. He rested his forehead on hers and sighed in frustration.**

 **"** **Come on, Marinette. Come back to me. Please," he mumbled, fingers of his hand tangling in her hair.**

 **Her eyes fluttered open after a long stretch of silence. She groaned and shut them again against the stab of light.**

 **"** **Princess?"**

 **"** **Kitty? What... what am I doing here? I was on my balcony and then all I can remember is darkness."**

 **"** **Um, this may be hard to hear, but there was a... You got..." Chat stumbled over the words, not wanting to hurt her.**

 **Her eyes widened and she moaned. "I was an akuma, wasn't I?"**

 **"** **Yes," he admitted.**

 **"** **Did I hurt anyone?" she asked hesitantly.**

 **"** **No, you just turned them into a sentient toy army that rammed into my shins a few times and tried to hold me down. No big deal. You didn't even damage more than like a stop sign and a couple windows during the fight," Chat told her, glossing over the part where she punched him in the face repeatedly. "Are** ** _you_** **okay?"**

 **"** **Me? Why wouldn't I be?" Marinette wondered.**

 **Chat looked away guiltily. There was no way to put it delicately. He had to tell her so she would know to feel for something wrong. "You, um, took a lot of damage. Your arm came off and part of your face caved in and your- your eye, it, uh... fell out. You put yourself back together, but it was pretty scary. Also, your face is still bleeding."**

 **"** ** _What_** **? How did all of that happen? How does a person's** ** _arm_** **just** ** _come off_** **?" she asked with an edge of panic to her voice, sitting up carefully and inspecting her arms frantically.**

 **Chat moved the hand displaced from her face to hold her hand, keeping the other one resting at the small of her back. She stopped her frenzied search for faults in her limbs to look him in the eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile and she relaxed a bit.**

 **"** **You were like a big porcelain doll. Your limbs were detachable. And when your face broke, you just held all the pieces near the broken edges and they melded back together. Your eye was glass. It was kind of creepy to see it come out, though. Your joints made little clicking noises when you moved."**

 **"** **Mon dieu, I sound like a nightmare," she muttered.**

 **"** **It wasn't you. Not really, anyway. And it's over, now. Once I get the akuma to Ladybug, you'll never have to worry about becoming an akuma ever again," he promised.**

 **Marinette jolted and seemed startled. "Ladybug?"**

 **"** **Yeah. She wasn't here. She must have gotten turned into a toy before she could change. I could have used some help, but I managed," he murmured distractedly. He looked back down at his Princess. "I'm gonna take you home and see if I can't sort out the rest of this. When I'm done, I'll come by and we can talk, yeah?"**

 **"** **I'd like that," she whispered, clutching his hand a little tighter.**

 **Marinette was returned home, and Ladybug made an apologetic appearance, claiming to have been held up. She fixed everything, thanked Chat for handling things, and bugged out to beat her Kitty home.**

 **He dropped in on her seconds after her head hit the pillow.**

 **"** **Hey, Princess."**

 **"** **Hi, Kitty. Are you okay?"**

 **"** **I'm fine. LB and I took care of cleanup and the toy army is back to being normal people. All is well," he summarized. "How's your face?"**

 **"** **The Ladybug Swarm patched me up. I'm good as new," she replied nervously.**

 **"** **Cool. Good. Great," Chat coughed.**

 **There was a stretch of silence.**

 **"** **So... do you want to talk about it?" he prompted.**

 **"** **I was just- I don't know," she groaned, scrubbing her eyes. "With Alya and Nino and Adrien busy and my parents out of town, I just got a little- okay,** ** _very_** **lonely. I didn't mean to, but I lost control."**

 **Chat eyed the blankets crumpled on the outdoor chair and the empty plate and restored teacup on the side table.**

 **"** **Were you out here waiting for me long?" he asked quietly.**

 **She stiffened. "Only a few hours," she huffed.**

 **"** **Oh, Princess," he sighed, sitting on the chaise and pulling her into his lap.**

 **He tucked her head underneath his chin and wound his arms around her, tugging the blankets up to cover them both.**

 **"** **Chat what are you-?"**

 **"** **Shh," he interrupted. "This is the croissant of happiness. You cannot be negative when folded in its cozy layers. It's science."**

 **She laughed at that, the shaking of her body effectively rocking her against his chest.**

 **"** **Well, I can hardly argue with scientific fact," she giggled.**

 **"** **Exactly," he affirmed staunchly.**

 **They stayed wrapped like that in snuggly quiet until Chat broke the stillness.**

 **"** **Princess? I'm sorry I wasn't here. I promise from now on that all you have to do is call and I'll be there. Heck, I'll probably even show up begging for macarons and MechaStrike when you** ** _haven't_** **called," he teased.**

 **"** **Kitty..."**

 **"** **I never want you to feel alone again. I'll give you the number for a burner phone and we can keep in touch whether I'm transformed or not, okay? I just-" he choked. "I couldn't stand seeing you hurting today. I don't ever want you to hurt again if I can do anything to help it."**

 **"** **Okay," she agreed quietly, huddling closer. "Hey, Chat?"**

 **"** **Yes, Princess?"**

 **"** **I love you," she blurted, before she could think better of it.**

 **She could follow the letter of Tikki's advice to go it alone by not telling him she was ladybug, but not the sentiment. She couldn't go it alone, and there was nothing wrong with needing someone to lean on when she felt unsteady. Her partner and friend was here, and he was being so sweet, and he was promising to never ever leave her alone. How could she resist taking this one thing for herself?**

 **Chat flinched, startled. He pulled back and turned her to look into her eyes, a serious expression on his face. For a moment, she worried that she'd driven him away, that he didn't feel the same. Then his mouth exploded into a megawatt grin and he took her head between his hands, drawing her lips closer to his.**

 **"** **I love mew, too, Purr-incess," he purred, waggling his eyebrows.**

 **"** **Silly Kitty," she chuckled.**

 **Then she grabbed his cheeks and pressed her mouth to his. His head tilted and she followed suit, kissing him hungrily. It was heated, frantic, near-desperate, but one could hardly blame them, after waiting so long when they were clearly made for each other.**

 **After this development in their relationship, it was hard for either one to feel lonely ever again.**


End file.
